Page 27 of The Banker's Bride

“Good! Well then, you’ll be staying for a very long time.” Dallas picked up one end of the trunk and Charles lifted the other.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” They walked out of the train station with the trunk and headed straight over to Dallas’s carriage. Bill saw them approaching and opened the back of the carriage for them to slide in the trunk. “I don’t have to be back to New York before Christmas. So, I thought that I’d stay until I have to go, if that’s okay with you.”

“You can stay as long as you like. You’re always welcome.” Dallas gave his friend’s arm a manly squeeze as he nodded toward the carriage doors. “Let’s go. We can talk on the way.”

Bill was going to hold the door for Charles, but he waved him off. “I’ve got it, thank you.”

“As you wish.” Bill climbed back up on the top of the carriage.

Dallas slid in on the other side, narrowing his eyes as he watched his friend.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it in time for your wedding.” Charles took off his hat and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. Then he laid it on the seat beside him, a crease forming between his eyes. “How was it?”

“It was wonderful.” But Dallas didn’t smile, knowing the Chicago Fire, as the newspapers now called it, was weighing heavily on his friend. Dallas’s heart went out to him. “Charles, how was it in Chicago?”

Charles looked up at him but said nothing. He didn’t have to. His eyes said it all.

Dallas lowered his voice. “Charles, you know you can talk to me.”

He nodded, his eyes filling with tears, threatening to spill over. Never had Dallas ever seen his friend like this before. “Dallas, I just can’t explain it. The blaze… the fire spreading, scorching hot, blazing against the darkness of the night… and the screaming.” He let out a deep breath, shaking his head. “I tried to save them… I really tried… but I couldn’t save them all.”

Dallas’s eyebrows pulled together in concern. “I’m sure you saved many. You did the best you could.”

Charles gave him a weak smile. “I tried.” He let out another breath. “The days that followed after the fire were just as bad.”

Dallas nodded. He could only imagine the atrocities his friend had witnessed, what he had endured. “Charles, I wish I had been there with you.”

Charles’s head snapped up. “No, Dallas, you don’t. I wouldn’t have wished that on anyone.” Then he let out another breath and smiled. “So, tell me of this new wife of yours.”

Dallas smiled, knowing that Charles was coming here to get away, to forget. And out of all the places he could have gone, he came to Whiskey River. He spent the rest of the ride telling Charles of Megan, how smart she was, and how funny, too.

“She sounds extraordinary.” Charles smiled, more like himself. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“And meet her you shall.” Dallas looked up as they pulled down the long drive of his ranch. “We’re here.”

Charles’s lips curled into a smile. “It’s good to be back.”

Dallas wondered how a man who was used to money, used to being in the city, in the center of business, could be so glad to be back here in this country town. But then again, hadn’t he himself been thinking of how lucky he was to live in such a place?

Both gentlemen stepped down out of the carriage when it came to a stop.

“Will you be needing anything else, Mr. King?” Bill asked from the top of the carriage.

Dallas shook his head. “No, thank you. Take the rest of the day off.”

Bill took up the reins. “Very well, then. Call me if you need me.”

“No need.” Dallas reached over and patted one of the horses. “If I need to go somewhere, I’ll get one of the other men to drive me. And don’t worry about the luggage. I’ll get the men to bring it in.”

Bill nodded as a smile lit his lips. “As you wish.” Then he pulled the carriage away and turned it toward the barn.

Dallas headed toward the house where Charles was waiting. “You could have gone inside. I want you to think of it as your home, too.”

Charles shook his head. “No, I didn’t want to scare your new wife to death if a strange man walked into her house.”

Dallas laughed as they approached the door. “Knowing Megan, she’d greet you at the door with the back side of a frying pan.”

“Well then….” Charles laughed. “I’m glad I waited.”

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